Commander Townsend
Commander Evan Townsend was a R.A.F.O Officer who fought at both Island Two and Granite City in the Second Element War. Biography Childhood Evan Townsend was born in the Gaian capital of Zem in the 5th decade of the First Element War. Not much is known about his childhood. It is assumed that he had his Choosing Ceremony on or shortly after his tenth birthday and that he chose Earth as his Element, and spent several years on Island IV at Element Central. Military Career Not much is known about Townsend’s early military career. He was a captain in the Gaian Army at the time of Lord Pyro’s invasion of the Gaian Kingdom, and joined the Resistance Against Fire Oppression in the days after the fall of the Gaian Kingdom. He was also good friends with Commander Stone. Upon joining R.A.F.O., Townsend was given command of Squad 2019. The Squad was tasked mainly with reconnaissance and mercy missions, but did see combat, most notably at the Battle of Island Two, where the Squad helped defend the front gates to the base, alongside Isabel Jax’s Blue Squad. At the end of the first year of the Second Element War, Squad 2019 was deployed from Island Five to Granite City, a besieged Gaian city that protected the road from the Aquantian border to New Zem. The Squad was sent on a reconnaissance mission to scout the enemy positions, but their AETT was shot down by a Pyroian Dart Ship over No Man's Land. Townsend and three other members of Squad 2019 survived the crash. Luckily for the survivors, the Squad’s Navigational Officer, Lieutenant Denis Edwards, had committed the battlemaps to memory, and Townsend ordered him to lead the remaining members of his squad to Lanchester Hill, R.A.F.O.'s forward position and nearest friendly position. Unfortunately, Izak, one of the four survivors, experienced shell shock after Pyroian artillery guns shelled the wrecked AETT. Under Townsend's orders, they were forced to leave him behind. As they walked through the abandoned trenches of No Man's Land, the trio was ambushed by two rogue archers hailing from the Wild Lands. Townsend was hit by an arrow, and after taking cover in a trench, Gibson and Edwards were able to kill the attackers. Pressing onward, the group eventually made it to Lanchester Hill at the same time that a Pyroian and South Jutean squadron arrived. A fight broke out, with the trio taking shelter in the abandoned and ruined outpost. The trio discovered a note left by the retreating R.A.F.O. soldiers saying that they would soon shell Lanchester Hill and the surrounding enemy positions. They had also taken the heavy canons, which is what the South Jutean and Pyroian forces were after. As the battle ensued, Townsend and Edwards made their way to the second floor to have a better vantage point, a grenade was thrown and the stair were destroyed, trapping Gibson on the exposed first floor and Edwards and Townsend on the safer second floor. Gibson was eventually overrun and killed by the Pyroian and South Jutean soldiers, but Townsend and Edwards were able to successfully kill the enemy. Climbing down to the first floor, they retrieved Gibson's body from the rubble, but were forced to leave him behind as R.A.F.O. artillery shells slammed down around them. Edwards took Gibson's helmet as a way to remember him. Townsend and Edwards hid in a trench as the area around them exploded. After the smoke had cleared, Edwards and Townsend climbed out of the trench and surveyed the damage. Lanchester Hill was reduced to a smoking ruin, the base there now rubble. As Townsend and Edwards looked towards friendly territory, they spotted a platoon of R.A.F.O. and Aquantian soldiers marching in the near distance. Stating that they're safe, the two soldiers make their way towards their allies, and are eventually brought back to friendly territory. Nothing else is known about Townsed after this point, and it is unknown if he survived the battle or the war.